Foley demands ‘robust’ age rules for social media from regulator
THE Education Minister is demanding that the Media Commissioner impose ‘robust’ age verification rules as social media platforms bow out of responsibility.
Norma Foley has warned Coimisiún na Meán – which is drafting laws to crack down on social media firms – that it is ‘no longer tenable for social media platforms to stand idly by’ in the protection of children online.
Her letter to the Online Safety Commissioner, Niamh Hodnett, seen by the Irish Daily Mail, demands that new rules being developed bring ‘robust’ age verification requirements, saying that the ‘current system of age verification is broken.’
Ms Foley said that children are getting around age limits ‘very easily’ and this is ‘creating a series of risks for children’.
She pointed to the potential use of photo ID verification and said the ‘current system of age verification is broken’.
The minister added: ‘As far as I am concerned, it is no longer tenable for social media platform to stand idly by. They must implement a robust age verification system of their own to protect children from inappropriate content and online predators. They have a duty of care to young people to do this.’
Representatives from Twitter and Meta recently told the Oireachtas Children’s Committee that app stores like Apple and Google should be responsible for effective age verification.
Ms Foley said: ‘I believe this is just trying to transfer responsibility onto someone else to solve the problem and I do not accept this as a solution at all.’
She urged the Commissioner ‘to ensure that the final version of the online safety code provides for such a system of robust age verification for social media platforms’. Coimisiún na Meán, the newly established media commissioner with responsibility for enforcing the Europe Union’s new Digital Services Act, is currently drafting a set of online safety codes that will establish real powers over social media companies.
If found in breach of these new codes, the social media network could face fines of up to €20million.
Ms Foley launched guidelines last year to encourage parents to avoid buying smartphones for children in primary school. Earlier this year, she called all social media platforms in Ireland to appear before her to talk about age verification. However, representatives of X, formerly Twitter, did not attend. Ms Foley said the platforms that did attend – Meta, Google, Microsoft and TikTok – were ‘not forthcoming’ when pressed on the implementation of effective age verification mechanisms.
Under Irish law, the digital age of consent for children to sign up to social media platforms that process their personal information without parental approval is 13. Social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram have an age limit of 13.
‘However, it is very easy for children to get around this as they just have to declare a date of birth online that puts them at age 13 years or older,’ Ms Foley said in her letter to the Online Safety commissioner.
She said: ‘I am aware of many primary school children who are using these social media apps.’